Creating Tomorrow's Internet.
INTERNET MARK 2 NEWSLETTER - MARCH 2005
In this issue:
=> PROGRESS REPORT
=> REMINDER - CALL FOR MEMBERS OF ADVISORY COUNCIL
=> GENERAL NEWS
+ INTERNET GOVERNANCE
+ KAHN ON SECURITY IN TCP/IP
+ THE IDN HOMOGRAPH DEBATE
+ ETHERNET EVERYWHERE? - FROM OUR MAILBOX
+ GOOD ARTICLE ON SMTP
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ABOUT THE INTERNET MARK 2 PROJECT
The Internet Mark 2 Project rose out of concerns that Internet protocols and
governance have not evolved sufficiently to deal with the range of problems
which have appeared as the Internet gets older and bigger. We welcome your
feedback and involvement in our work; some suggestions as to how you can get
involved appear at www.internetmark2.org.
The Internet Mark2 Newsletter is circulated free of charge, and will bring
monthly updates on issues with Internet Governance and Protocols.
To subscribe is as simple as sending an email to mailto:subscribe@internetmark2.org
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PROGRESS REPORT
In our last Newsletter (see http://www.internetmark2.org/involved/nlet3.html) we
raised some issues as to where this project might head. The article noted that
we are moving into 2005 with basic Internet protocols which will not scale to
the future, eccentric governance structures unable to look at these issues
holistically, and a dominance of technocratic thinking unable to adequately
address
the basic requirements of Internet users. As the article states:
"We do not believe that the appropriate path forward is to do
nothing and rely on the technological winner of the next generation
telephony and internet experiments to be our future platform. Rather,
we believe that we should influence the way these things are developed.
The future may or may not involve DNS as we know it, or even email
in anything like its current form. Different messaging genres less
susceptible to fraud are likely to emerge, and addressing is likely
to take on different forms. Meanwhile current Internet structures may
find themselves irrelevant because they have defined their scope too
narrowly and have not been able to look far enough forward to create
the future that the Internet deserves.
We see our role as assisting in the creation of tomorrow's Internet.
As a result of the Internet Analysis Report, we have had a lot of
excellent feedback as regards the issues involved in major protocol
changes, architectural directions that might be appropriate, and
generally useful comments in moving forward. We believe these forward-
thinking energies should be harnessed into a co-operative structure.
The Internet has opened up cheaper global communications, the capacity to
communicate freely
across borders, and vast improvements in the capacity of humans to
communicate, access information, and exchange goods and services.
These have been huge gains that would not have come through
traditional structures and without the marriage of computing and
telephone technologies".
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CALL FOR NOMINATIONS FOR MEMBERS OF AN INTERNET MARK 2 ADVISORY COMMITTEE.
PLEASE FEEL FREE TO DISTRIBUTE THIS CALL WIDELY - NOMINATIONS CLOSE MARCH 30
Nominations for members of an Internet Mark 2 Advisory Committee will close on
March 30 2005.
Members of the Advisory Committee will be chosen for their capacity to make a
positive contribution to the future of the Internet. This may be in fields such
as policy and strategy development, in forging alliances among government,
community and industry, in technical and architectural roles, in managing
effective change, and in creating a path to a more reliable future for the
Internet.
Alliances with existing governmental, community and industry bodies are most
welcome.
Self-nominations are also welcome.
The purpose of the Advisory Committee will be to advise on and seek initiatives
to further the cause of an Internet which enhances global communications,
supports the free flow of information, and provides a platform for exchange of
goods and services on a global basis.
Advisory Committee nominations should be sent to mailto:ac@internetmark2.org.
The closing date is March 30 2005, so as to allow time for widespread input.
Applications should include a brief description of the person being nominated
and their relevant experience and skills, and a short statement as regards the
person's interest in the future of the Internet and what they would bring to a
role on the Advisory Committee. If this is not a self-nomination, we will need
to have details of how to contact the person being nominated to allow them to
indicate their willingness to stand.
Please let your colleagues know, think about self-nominating, and help us to
move this initiative on to its next stages.
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GENERAL NEWS
INTERNET GOVERNANCE
We won't attempt to summarise everything that is happening in this area because
- well, it's all hot air at this stage as many governments call for an end of
"US control" of the Internet, committees discuss what governance means (business
dictionaries must be in short supply in Geneva), and lots of draft statements
are being prepared. You can follow the inaction at www.wgig.org.
Not much can be achieved in the limited timeframe of WSIS. Our hope is that the
question of control of policy in the root zone is addressed effectively, so as
to internationalise the Internet and end the unilateral control of policy in
this area by the US government. We don't expect much else except statements of
intent to emerge from this process. Let's hope the statements are good ones that
can guide future directions.
KAHN ON SECURITY IN TCP/IP
Internet pioneer and Turing Prize co-winner Robert Kahn wishes the Internet had
been built with a security layer in the beginning. Yep…….
<http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/click_online/4317521.stm>
THE IDN HOMOGRAPH DEBATE
In the Internet Analysis Report we pointed out the difficulties involved with
multilingual domain name implementations if there was a refusal to improve the
DNS. Now it's all come out in a security scare. For a good background article on
this, read
http://www.betanews.com/article/print/Opera_Calls_for_Consortium_on_IDN_Fix/1108759839
The result has been calls to abandon internationalized domain names. Rather, we
think the answer lies in future-proofing the Internet.
ETHERNET EVERYWHERE? - FROM OUR MAILBOX
An intriguing idea from our email…
Dear Sirs,
I'm a Spanish engineer and IEEE member, involved in the 802.3 projects
(Ethernet). I have made a proposal to Internet evolution, which will be
interesting for your work. It is available in:
http://www.lmdata.es/uets-eng.pdf
I would like to know your opinion.
Now, I'm writing a second document that describes the system from a technical
point of view. If it is of your interest, let me know to send it to you, once
finished.
name:
Jose Morales Barroso, Ph.D
email:
jmb@ieee.org
GOOD ARTICLE ON SMTP
We also point out in the Internet Analysis Report problems with the basic email
protocol, SMTP. We don't agree with everything said in the attached article, but
it gives a good background on this ageing protocol.
http://www.freesoftwaremagazine.com/free_issues/issue_02/focus_spam_smtp/
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INTERNET ANALYSIS REPORT 2004 - PROTOCOLS AND GOVERNANCE
WHAT READERS ARE SAYING
"excellent work"
"a good and informative paper"
"very clear"
"insightful"
"lays out its case in simple, understandable terms"
"what I found valuable about it was the breadth of the approach, introducing
readers to a wide range of barriers that the Internet faces in increasing the
breadth and depth of its current coverage"
To purchase your copy of the report, visit http://www.internetmark2.org/study/pricing.html
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TELL A FRIEND
We continue to seek further feedback and exposure to the issues we are raising.
If you are aware of someone who you think should be aware of these issues, we
suggest you send them this newsletter, and suggest they subscribe (it's as
simple as sending an email to mailto:subscribe@internetmark2.org).
Alternatively, direct them to www.internetmark2.org. We appreciate your
feedback.
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DON'T FORGET - NOMINATIONS FOR THE INTERNET MARK 2 ADVISORY COUNCIL CLOSE ON
MARCH 30 -
SELF NOMINATIONS ARE WELCOME - THINK ABOUT IT!